The lemon, lime, citrus, or checkered swallowtail butterfly, Papilio demoleus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) (“P. demoleus”), a butterfly that originates in the Middle to Far East, is a destructive pest of citrus. It is endemic to southern Asia, from Iran and the Middle East to India, and to the Pacific, from New Guinea to Australia. P. demoleus was first documented in the Western hemisphere in the Dominican Republic in 2004. By 2006, it was also documented in Puerto Rico and Jamaica.
P. demoleus is a very successful invasive species. Since the 1970s, P. demoleus has invaded the islands of Java, Borneo, Philippines, and Sumatra. Deforestation and the increased availability of citrus groves have facilitated the spread of the species. P. demoleus has the destructive ability to defoliate vast amounts of young citrus trees in outbreaks severe enough to skeletonize entire groves and nurseries. Young seedlings are particularly vulnerable, as they are less able to survive having their leaves eaten by butterfly larvae compared to mature citrus plants, so the feeding on young citrus plants has a particularly devastating effect. Their consumption of citrus is costly and wasteful, and makes citrus-feeding butterflies a tremendous pest of the citrus industry.
The danger of this destructive species migrating to the United States cannot be ignored. Citrus crops grown in Florida, California, Arizona, and Texas comprise a multi-billion dollar industry. If P. demoleus were to migrate to these parts of the United States, the economic effect would be devastating.
Measures taken by the industry to prevent or minimize attacks on citrus plants have thus far proved expensive, and in some instances, deleterious to the environment. These methods include the use of insecticides, fungi, parasites, hand removal, and the use of physical barriers such as netting.
The genus Piper is known to contain plants with many pesticidal, repellant, and fungicidal properties, many of which are attributed to high concentrations of phenylpropanoid, dillapiol, piperonyl butoxide, and safrole and their analogs. For example, Piper nigrinodum, or black pepper, which is known to cause high mortality against flour and cowpea beetles and houseflies, contains toxins such as piperine, pellitorine, and pipercide. Helen C. F. Su, J. Econ. Ent., 70:18-21 (1977); E. K. Harvill, A. Hartzell, and J. M. Arthur, Contrib. Boyce Thompson Inst., 13:87-92 (1943); Martin Jacobson, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 75: 2584-2586 (1953); and D. L. Whitehead and W. S. Bowers Eds., Natural Products for Innovative Pest Management, vol. 2, Pergamon Press, New York, pp. 369-382 (1983). Additionally, Piper aduncum oils have been known to have pesticidal qualities against cattle ticks, flour beetles, the housefly, and the American cockroach. See, e.g., Kong Chiou et al., J. Trop. Med. Parisitol., 32: 52-57 (2009) I Ling A, et al., Iranian J. Arthropod-Borne Dis., 3:1-6 (2009); Muraleedharan G. Nair, et al., Agric. Biol. Chem. 50:3053-3058 (1986); and Wilson, Castro Silva, et al., Veterinary Parasitology, 164:267-274 (2009).